For more than a week now, we've been waiting for it to happen: A game where Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon could take over for the Red Sox early, then blank the baffled opposition.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the POG Squad.

Last night, the three pitchers got into the game in succession for the first time during a 9-6 win, serving notice all over the American League that it's going to be awfully tough to take a win away from the Red Sox any time after the sixth inning.

Count Angels manager Mike Scioscia among those impressed:

"They're tough. They can shorten the game as well as we can," he said. "They've got some guys who are having terrific seasons. They've got Okajima, they've added Gagne, they've got some other power arms and they finish off with Papelbon. It's a great bullpen."

It's a tune the Red Sox will need a lot of teams to be singing over the next few months, particularly because it remains unclear how reliable the Red Sox rotation is once you get past Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Can Curt Schilling stay healthy and effective? Can Jon Lester find what it takes to succeed? Can Tim Wakefield harness his knuckleball at the right time this season? They're all questions that are alleviated at least to some extent thanks to a bullpen that has the only sub-2.80 ERA in the Major Leagues (San Diego is second with a 2.99 bullpen ERA).

As the season continues to progress, it'll be interesting to see how Terry Francona uses the POG Squad in pressure situations. How, for example, does he handle a game on a day after the Red Sox used all three men the night before? Does someone get a break? How regularly?

For the time being, we can consider Terry Francona the keeper of a not-so-secret, one-of-a-kind weapon. How that weapon is used could go a long way toward any Red Sox success or failure in the playoffs.